Press Release

LOS ANGELES – The American Association for Justice is pleased to announce that Julie Braman Kane has been sworn in as its new President during a ceremony at the organization’s Annual Convention here in Los Angeles.

Kane is a partner at the law firm Colson Hicks Eidson, where she has spent her entire career since graduating from law school in 1993. She has represented hundreds of clients in a variety of personal injury and product liability cases and is a true advocate for the civil justice system.

“Every day, trial lawyers help people get back on their feet. That’s what motivates me: listening to people’s stories and figuring out how to help them,” Kane said. “Most of these stories are tragic, but I believe there can be some good that can rise out of a tragedy. I’m proud to serve as president of AAJ, an organization devoted to protecting consumer rights and preserving the civil justice system.”

Kane has been a member of AAJ for more than 20 years, serving on the Executive Committee and Board of Governors. She has also chaired AAJ’s National College of Advocates, National Finance Council, Products Liability Section, Women Trial Lawyers Caucus and Diversity Task Force. She is the recipient of numerous awards from AAJ, including the Distinguished Service Award; the Howard Twiggs Commitment to Justice Award; its Marie Lambert Award for leadership; and the Joe Tonahill Award for legal excellence. In 2010, the University of Miami School of Law honored Julie with the Alumni Leadership Award, and in 2015 she received the Daily Business Review’s Top Twenty Women in Law Award.

Most notably, Kane has been closely involved with AAJ’s Trial Lawyers Care (TLC) service project. TLC was created in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and Kane was one of more than 1,100 trial lawyers who volunteered more than 100 years’ worth of pro bono service to help families seeking compensation through the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund. TLC continues to foster community activism, with attorneys volunteering at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank throughout their convention and conducting End Distracted Driving programs at schools across the country.

“I believe that serving your clients and serving your community go hand-in-hand,” she said. “It’s an honor to serve as president of an organization that not only shares this belief but actively encourages its members to take part in community service projects.”

In addition to Kane, AAJ’s new set of officers includes President-Elect Kathleen Nastri of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, PC in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Vice-President Elise Sanguinetti of Arias Sanguinetti Stahle & Torrijos LLP in Oakland, California; Secretary Bruce H. Stern of Stark & Stark of Lawrenceville, New Jersey; Treasurer Tobi L. Millrood of Pogust, Braslow & Millrood in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; and Parliamentarian Navan Ward of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles P.C. in Montgomery, Alabama.